"Eases the Process of Starting a Career in the Federal Government"

Eases the Process of Starting a Career in the Federal Government, July 10, 2010
By JD, USMC
This Amazon.com review is from: Military to Federal Career Guide, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

“After 4+ years in the Marines I was ready for a break and ready to take advantage of the experience my military service gave me. Like all Marines (and I suspect other transitioning Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard personnel) I was made to go through a rushed TAP/ TAMP class on how to get out of the military and be successful as a civilian. After I was forced through yet another power point numbing series of classes punctuated by mock interviews and civilian attire inspections, and after I was mentally preparing to EAS; my unit was deployed for 8 months. I got home and left the Corps 2 weeks after returning to CONUS.

I hate long rambling reviews so I’ll try to get to the book. After I worked my way through school with the help of my GI Bill (that didn’t pay nearly all my education expenses) I found myself lacking a real plan. I started looking into careers in the Federal Government and was baffled and frustrated by USAjobs, Army Resume Builder and all the competition from those snot-nose kids whose parents paid their way through college while I was enjoying MRE’s and bottled water in a place whose name they never will care to learn. I got lucky and stumbled across an early run of the second edition of this book after it came out at the NY Book Expo of America last May. I worked through the book and the CD and I found the process much more manageable. What made it easy were the sample resumes from actual military personal.

I could use their resumes as a starting point for mine. Like them, I found actual jobs on USAjobs and worked the language of the posting into my resume and cover letter. Then there are instructions in the book on how to submit your resume and how long you can expect to wait before you hear back. Additionally there are interview tips and pointers on how to follow up on submitted applications. Finally, in summation, I am personally satisfied with my results after putting in the effort and working through this book, hopefully you will be to. If not, that’s OK. Just hope we both don’t go out for the same opening. Cheers.”